Alabama

Texas A&M quarterback Kenny Hill (7) throws against South Carolina during the first half of an NCAA college football game on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)
(Rainier Ehrhardt)

In his first game since taking over for college football's first freshman Heisman Trophy winner, Kenny Hill served notice that he might be ready to contend for the sport's premier individual honor himself in his first year as a starter.

After the sophomore's 44-of-60, 511-yard, three-touchdown performance in a 52-28 win at South Carolina, count Gamecocks' coach Steve Spurrier as a believer. And there was one attribute in particular that caught the Ol' Ball Coach's eye.

"Kenny Hill has got a quick throwing motion," Spurrier said. "I really like the way he holds it and then it comes out of there just like that. There's no wind-up. There's no eyeballing guys. He sort of looks through the area and then all of the sudden, here it comes. He was impressive.

"The receivers, they actually dropped a few. He was 44 out of 60. I think they dropped five or six he could have hit. So he was very impressive. We didn't have much of a pass rush, but A&M's got an excellent offensive line; give them credit."

It's just one game, but it may have been the most impressive game by a first-time starter in recent memory. It certainly outdid the debut of his predecessor, Johnny Manziel, back in 2012.

Manziel threw for 173 yards and rushed for 60 yards and touchdown in a 20-17 loss to Florida, but then went on to win the Heisman.

Hill, unlike Manziel, addressed the media this week, talking about everything from nicknames to his preseason public intoxication arrest. As a redshirt freshman, Manziel wasn't made available to the media in 2012 until late in the season.

"Johnny was a first-year player," Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin explained. "That was not just a Johnny rule. I think people took it as that. Mike Evans was the same way, but nobody asked to talk to him.

"Kenny played last year for us, traveled, played in games. He's been around here. He understands what the expectations are and how we do things. I think that's important."

The question now for Hill is what he can do for an encore. The Aggies have non-conference games at home against Lamar and Rice and a road game at SMU before returning to conference play against Arkansas in AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Sept. 27.

"It'll be interesting to see if they can continue at that pace," Spurrier said of the Aggies, who moved up to No. 9 in the AP poll. "Thirty-nine first downs in a game, I've never seen that many. Never had that many and never had that many against me. So that was impressive, what they did."